Report: Michelle Obama Didn’t Have to Be Working Mom

President Barack Obama has said his wife didn’t have “the luxury” of staying home with their two young daughters, but in fact the couple enjoyed a pretty hefty income — most of which was earned by Michelle.

In a speech Friday, the president said that when daughters Malia and Sasha were born, the couple couldn’t afford for Michelle to stay at home with the girls.

Michelle Obama was dedicated to her career, and “we didn’t have the luxury for her not to work,” the president said.

But Terence P. Jeffrey pointed out in a post on CNSNews.com that the Obamas, both Harvard Law graduates, were making a combined annual income of $479,062 in 2005, when Barack Obama began serving in the U.S. Senate. Their daughters were seven and four years old.

At the time, Michelle Obama was paid $316,962 a year to handle community affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center, and her husband had a salary of $162,100 as a freshman senator, Jeffrey said.